Elephants, waterfalls, ancient ruins, and river boats....just another day in the life.

Well well well,
As always, heres a quick little rundown of what Ive been up to the past couple weeks. I know my Uncle Ryan hates blogs, I think "scared" was the chosen words, so Ill make this as quick and painless as possible. After Bangkok I headed with Mica to Kanchanaburi in Western Thailand. AWESOME, after a big city like Bangkok it was exactly what I needed. The town was small with the river front focused on backpackers and travellers. The main focus here was HellFire Pass, the bridge over the river kwai, and a national park filled with waterfalls. Had a blast. We moved onto Cambodia after back tracking through Bangkok, and started out in Siem Reap. The 4 days spent there was focused on Angkor Wat. The ruins were incredible. After Siem Reap, we headed down to Phnom Penh, where I am currently writing this. Tonight headed into Laos.

ps...this may look long at first, but do not worry. Its just lots of pictures. Lets be serious..me write? HA

Kanchanaburi......What can I say. It is an ABSOLUTLEY amazing spot. After 4 days on Koh San Road Bangkok, I was more than burnt out of the city. Heading to Kanchanaburi was exactly what I needed. It was the SE Asia I wanted this trip to be. Lush mountain hills, back country roads, and the cheapest and tastiest Pad Thai ever. The first day Mica and I got there we did the unthinkable...signed up for an organized tour. I usually try to stay away from this kinda thing, but it seemed like a killer deal. Cheap and hit all the places. Why not right?

Soi Nok Waterfall

WOW!! Was I glad that I signed up.We headed straight to the Bridge Over the River Kwai, famous from a movie filmed here about the Japanese forces during WWII and what they used the POW for. Ive never seen the movie, but the bridge was nice.After that the real fun for me began. We went to a mini waterfall first thing in the morning and our guide basically said go play. Well Im sure he was explaining the significance of the area, but that went in one ear and out the other. I saw what I had been waiting for. The water was well, "refreshing" to say the least and of course I didnt bring a towel, but it was WAAYYY worth it. From the waterfall we headed to the HellFire Pass musuem and exhibit. It was a great museum and display. I knew nothing about the area and walked away with a new respect and understanding of what went on. Hellfire Pass is a specific location on the Japanese built railroad from Bangkok to Burma. During the war they built it to run supplies, but used POW for manual labor. The Japanese knew nothing of tunnel design, so instead the just blew large chunks out of the side of cliffs to make the way through. Living conditions for the workers was very dangerous. Mistreatment from the Japanese and horrible living conditions caused many many deaths. Walking away from the museum you leave with an appreciation for the struggles these people went through to build the railway.

HellFire Pass

Bridge over the River Kwai

The first of many waterfall poses....

After the museum we stopped for lunch at a local restuarant. Thai food is outstanding, but Im still gonna have to go with the best food Ive had was in Japan....Hands down. From lunch we headed to the next stop.ELEPHANT TREKKING. So much fun. Mika and I hopped onto our lil seat on the back of Full Moon, our 37 year old beast. She was too cool. Elephants are A LOT bigger than I thought. Just massive animals. After a couple seconds on our ride I jokingly asked our driver if him and I could switch. Within a split second he was off the elephants neck and helping me onto it....WHAT THE HELL? I didnt think that was going to work at all, but it did and all of a sudden I was "driving" my first elephant. Check that off the list!

After driving an elephant I didnt think the day could get any better. Boy was I wrong. Our next stop was the Death Railway site. Another section of the same railroad but this area took a tremendous death toll for such a small section. Over 800 workers died within a month of building. Harsh weather, cruel treatment, and accidents. Wow....going back over what I just wrote makes me sound quite scary. The best part wasnt the horrible history of the area. Lets just get that straight now. The best part was the train itself. Our tour ended with a ride on the local train all the way back into the city. A nice 2 hour ride. But this wasnt your ordinary Amtrak, Bullettrain, or EuroRail. No No. This was an oldschool out in the country of Thailand train. Mom, Im sorry but it was AWESOME. And look...Im still here!!!!!!!

Death Railway

We rode the train all the way and returned to our hostel to eat dinner, shower and get ready for the next day. Our orignial plan was to get up early and head to Erawan National Park, home of a famous 7 tier waterfall, but waking up at 12 and finding out the park was 65 km away, and closed at 4....caused a change in plans that couldnt have turned out any cooler. We ended up renting bikes and heading out into the country looking for a famous cave temple. We found the temple right before a storm came in, great timing. The cave was cool, not gonna lie with all the bats...lil freaky too. I never thought I was scared of bats, but in all honesty...I am no Batman. Those lil buggers scared the hell out of me as the dive bombed and attacked. Not cool.

Spulunking...

We got out of the cave and found the rain had cleared up so we got back on our bikes and headed back to the city. We took our time exploring the back roads and I found myself in the perfect SE Asian adventure. This was exactly what I wanted on this trip, what I pictured. Rice fields on one side, green mountains all around, unreal. We ending up biking A LOT farther than we planned on, but this lil bike trip seemed to be just the start of our bicycle adventures.

Thai country side

We got back home and just hung out the rest of the night, had to get a good nights rest for the early morning wake up for the waterfalls. I cant explain to you how excited I was for this day. A 7 tier waterfall with pools, man eating fish, and awesomeness....I was STOKED. We got up early and got our rides...yes rides. Mica and I rented mopeds to make the 65 km trek up to the park. What a long and awesome ride it was. Once we got to the waterfalls I instantly was in the water exlporing these "man eating fish."

Dont feed the monkeys, but let the fish eat you....

Man Eating Fish

So these fish are usually small little things that nibble at your dead skin...kinda gross right? They have tanks of these things in Bangkok as fish feet massages. In the wild though...A) theyre HUGE B) they dont just nibble. I jumped in the first pool I could find and was soon surrounded. But enough of the fish, who by the way, were EVERYWHERE, you kinda just got used to it after awhile. The waterfalls...ABSOLUTELY breathtaking. I cant even begin to explain how nice the place was. Huge waterfalls that you could explore anywhere and everywhere. Running through the jungle, jumping from ledge to ledge, slidding down rock faces. Perfect.

SIDENOTE: If anyone has ever questioned my purchase of my FiveFinger shoes( yes my dorky aquaman looking shoes)..the answer was found in this national park. Everyone is trying to hike in sandals and slipping and sliding in the mud but not this kid...running circles around them.







I could spend hours trying to describe how much fun I had in this park and on the drive, but I couldnt do it any justice. Ill let a couple pics do the work...

Mica and I met a couple people at the waterfalls and decided to meet up with them at the local bar..

And that is exactly what I did.

for a couple drinks. Which turned into one hell of last night in Kanchanaburi. Playing Blitz for shots, riding my new favorite bike, and a new way to open a bottle is the perfect summary of the night.

The infamous MASH game.

First steps into Cambodia!

We headed back to Bangkok the next day with a new addition to our travel squad. Karen, an AWESOME Irish girl, we met at the waterfalls was on her way to Cambodia as well and we all started the trek. We stayed a night in bangkok just to get the early bus to Siem Reap the day. It was a LONG day of travelling. Best part of the whole day was getting my Cambodian Visa done at a cafe on the side of the road. Sketchy? Yes, but hey I made it across haha. My first impression of Cambodia was great. I thought the Thai people were friendly, but nothing compared to Cambodians. The whole vibe here is great. Very touristy though and the endless touts for "tuk tuks" or "boom boom" get a little old, but you learn to ignore it. We crossed the border and got back onto another bus and headed to Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat. We all got up early and rented bicycles to make the 20km + to and around the temples. The day started off great. Sun shining. Me rocking my new pirate look, biking along through ancient ruins then BOOM. Popped tire. AWESOME. I was pretty rattled at first. Ok, Very rattled, but I just tried to laugh it off and just kept going. Popped tire or not I was seeing these temples. Right as it was getting to a point of no return, I got lucky..REAL lucky. There was a small fmaily business on the side of the road that did tire repair. THANK YOU!! This 12 year old kid changed the tire in about 3 seconds and we were back on the road.

Failed tire...

My Love for Coconuts is indescribable.

The temples were truly mind blowing. Massive structures that were built soooo long ago and done soooo well. The stone carvings were beautiful and so intricate. The thing that blew my mind was how nature has started to take back the land. We saw temple after temple after temple, so a detailed rundown of all I saw would be impossible, but my favorite temple was Ta Prohm Temple. This is where nature really took over. HUGE trees coming up through giant stone walls, roots running everywhere. So crazy. I added a couple of my favorite pictures below, but they dont so the area any justice.

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Siem Reap was a lot of fun, biked all day everyday and saw soooo many ancient ruins. Our last day we all got up EARLY to see the famous sunrise over Angkor Wat, the areas largest complex. Well, I came to Cambodia during monsoon season. Monsoons mean rain, rain means clouds, and clouds mean no sunrise. The view wasnt as breathtaking as the photos, but it was neat to see the hundreds of people who like us, came to see it. The positive note was while all these people were outside of the complex taking pictures of nothing, we got to tour the temple complex in silence. No huge crowds nothing.

Angkor Wat

Our last day in Siem Reap, NOTE: this day is also Bobbi-Jos BIRTHDAY!!, was pouring!!! Which didnt really bug any of us, we were all tired and a bit rundown after biking all day for 3 days and none of us wanted anything to do with another temple. So...what better way to wait out a monsoon( we had a nightbus to Phnom Pehn later the evening) than to post up in a Mexican restuarant, the closest thing to Las Margiritas I could find, and play Blitz for beers and margiritas for 10 hours. GREAT goodbye to Siem Reap, but made for a SHITTY night bus ride. The bus was neat, it was all mini bunkbeds down the aisles. Kinda cool, but not for me. Small lil beds that I didnt like to begin with, and I got the middle row, right over the rear axle. Any corner I felt like Id spill out of the bed, and bump...I thought I was going through the roof. Needless to say, a nap once we got to Phnom Penh was in order.

After a LONG night.

 Sleep till midday then got my game face on for a house party with Karen's friend of a friend of a friend..that she knew in the city. We ended up partying with this group of kids the entire weekend. Best part was the river boat cruise Saturday night. Unreal. It was just a 2 story party boat. Music, tables, chairs, and a ton of booze. Had a great time haha. How could I not? But the best part...the moto taxi on the way home. Got the fair down to .50$ for the ride home, AND stopping at the gas station for an icecream cone. Perfect night.

Riverside view

My guest house is the yellow/white building.

But besides the partying...Phnom Penh is a great city. Its the capitol of Cambodia, but not too large yet. Only 2 million people and LOTS of development going on. Actually kinda sad. The hostel were staying at, Lakeside Guesthouse, used to be the center of the backpacker ghetto of the city. All backpackers, all locals, just a big chill scene. But the first thing you notice about the Lakeside is.....theres no lake. The whole area used to be a mix of cheap guesthouses, locals homes, and cheap restaurants until the "development" started. a few large Korean investment companies decided to make a new city center for phnom Penh. Giant highrises, casinos, new downtown business area. The chosen site...the lake. The literally FILLED IN the lake. Its a strange feeling. Walking around the area where Im staying and you start to see the effect that a plan like that has. Its an uncomfortble feeling. People are getting kicked out of their homes just to allow more office buildings. Yes, I know this happens all over the world, I just usually dont see it first hand. They sand filled lake is quite a site. Theres still a fishing boat sitting in the middle, just left there. In evenings tons of local kids use the big sand park for soccer or other games. Which Mica and I actually got into one night, got beaten by 7 year olds...not cool. But its just a sad sight in general. The buildings are torn down, people are moving, or barely surviving under new rent costs and zoning permits. Crazy.

I had blast through Cambodia, but its now time to move on. Im heading up into Laos tonight on a night bus. Lets hope this one goes a bit better...Wish me luck and I miss all you guys!!!

Tyler